Somewhere in the Lehigh Valley, there’s a crazy history buff driving around with a bag full of those adhesive decals used to label addresses on mailboxes and using them to deface road signs erected to honor heroes of America’s past.

OK. “Defacing” may be a strong word. And there’s absolutely no evidence to indicate that the incident I’m about to explain is rampant. I don’t even know if this person’s an actual history buff or if he/she even lives in the Lehigh Valley. To use the word “crazy” also might be a stretch.

Why don’t we just call our culprit “Nuts”?

After all, that’s what he/she spelled out with the decals on a road sign off the side of the southbound lanes of Route 33 in Bethlehem Township, Pa., between Route 22 and William Penn Highway.

“Nuts” carries many meanings. Seventh-grade boys in a locker room and the folks who work at Planters would disagree on its primary definition. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe used the word in his own special way when he sent a message to the Nazis in 1944. For him, it was a word tantamount to a two-word phrase, the second word being “You.” As for the first word, it rhymes with “puck,” begins with an “F” and ends with … well, you’ve probably figured it out by now.

A close friend, who is in fact a history buff, particularly of matters related to World War II, recently pointed out the decals on the sign. His interest wasn’t that someone slapped the word “Nuts” on a road sign. Vandals commit far more egregious acts. His interest was in the actual sign this person targeted.

My friend’s timing in noticing the addition to the general’s sign, undoubtedly not a coincidence, couldn’t be more apt. We’re celebrating Veterans Day on Monday, and one of many cherished ways of recognizing the occasion is telling stories of American heroism.

Below is some context to McAuliffe’s famous WWII line. This comes to you from the official website of the U.S. Army. Pamela Cheney of the U.S. Army Military Institute writes:

“On Dec. 22, 1944, the Germans surrounded Bastogne, and their artillery was pounding the city. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division … occupied the city … McAuliffe, the division artillery commander, was in command. Fighting was intense, and the situation was bleak. Suddenly and unexpectedly, a German delegation … showed up under the cover of a white flag bearing a message demanding the Americans surrender. General McAuliffe read the message, and then, it is said, one of his officers uttered in a disbelieving voice, ‘they must think we’re nuts.’ Huddling with his officers, he then formulated a reply that summed up their reaction to the German proposal: ‘Nuts!’ Nothing more needed to be said.”

Sure, there’s a slippery slope argument to be made here. I suppose it’s technically vandalism of public property, and there are millions of offensive words, phrases and symbols that someone could put up there. I’m guessing PennDOT doesn’t want to draw the line between patriotism and vandalism.

And I’m sure there are others out there who just feel people shouldn’t mess with something that doesn’t belong to them no matter what the intention. I understand this point of view.

However, as it relates to this particular incident, my response to that argument is “Nuts!”